The House Research Institute and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given final approval to begin a clinical trial of an Auditory Brainstem Implant (ABI) procedure for children. The trial is a surgical collaboration sponsored by the House Research Institute in partnership with Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Vittorio Colletti, MD of the University of Verona Hospital, Verona, Italy.
The clinical trial is part of a unique international consortium with the University of Verona for teaching and research to advance the use of the auditory brainstem implant (ABI) in children worldwide. The ABI is already a successful treatment with the pediatric population in Italy, and the goal of the partnership is to bring the hearing implants to deaf children in the United States.